Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 [Blu-Ray]Blu-ray ALL - America - Paramount Home Entertainment
Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (3rd June 2009).

The Show

Iâm willing to bet that way back in 1966 when Gene Roddenberry created âStar Trekâ (1966-1969), he never would have guessed the show would go on to hold the Guinness World Record for most number of spin-offs from a single television series. Indeed, more than 40 years after the original seriesâ debut, "Star Trek" has birthed five additional television series and eleven theatrical films, the latest of which, âStar Trekâ (2009), is a reboot to the entire storyline.

However, time has not been so kind to the classic series. What was once a well-received, both critically and by fans, series about space exploration slowly evolved into a running joke among late-nights sketch comedy shows and bullies unfamiliar with the show looking to lampoon geeks in general. What many have missed is that the show was exceptionally written, had a pitch-perfect cast and, though they lacked a substantial budget, featured many fantastic set pieces intended to bring viewers into the 23rd century.

The seriesâ first season didnât begin smoothly by any stretch of the imagination. After being passed over by CBS, in favor of "Lost in Space" (1965-1968), Gene Roddenberry, creator of "Star Trek", finally convinced NBC to pick up the show. The network commissioned a pilot episode, âThe Cageâ, to be shot with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike and Leonard Nimoy as Spock. NBC decided to reject the pilot for being âtoo cerebralâ but, in a surprise move, they commissioned a second pilot be shot, âWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeâ, with William Shatner, stepping in for Jeffrey Hunter, who was unable to return, taking the reigns of the USS Enterprise over as Captain James T. Kirk. The only other cast member retained by the production was Nimoyâs Spock, while the rest of the cast was filled out with Dr. Leonard âBonesâ McCoy (Deforest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Sulu (George Takei).

The mission statement of the series, as spoken during the showâs opening by Spock, was as follows:

âSpace: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.â

The series intention was to feature the crew exploring the known and unknown universe, interacting with whatever inhabitants they come across along the way. This allowed the series to feature many unique species and races, often times mirroring current social issues relevant to the zeitgeist. The themes within the show dealt with tolerance and acceptance of those who are different; to set aside ethnocentric ways of thinking in favor of embracing what is alien to us. Roddenberryâs decision to include Asian (Sulu) and African-American (Uhura) cast members was a radical choice considering the norm for that time period was to cast white actors in prominent roles. In fact, the series can also boast another major milestone: the first on-screen interracial kiss between fictional characters, as performed by William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols in the season three episode, âPlatoâs Stepchildrenâ.

âStar Trek: The Original Seriesâ: Season 1 contains all 29 episodes presented on 7 dual-layered Blu-ray discs. The breakdown is as follows:

All of the above episodes are fantastic; nothing stands out as a weak link among this collection. NBC allowed the series to really shine in terms of production design, apparently in an attempt to take advantage of the newly-realized color television technology, so each episode is exceptionally vivid and colorful. My personal favorite episodes are: âWhat Are Little Girls Made Of?â, âThe Devil in the Darkâ, âThe Naked Timeâ, âThe Enemy Withinâ and âArenaâ, though that list is subject to change as I do seriously enjoy every episode presented here.

As is the case with the quality of each episode, the cast is equally outstanding. The patriarch of the series is William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk, envisioned as a 23rd century Horatio Hornblower-type with a distinctly rugged, individualistic personality. Shatner certainly made the role his own, and his acting and line delivery have become the stuff of legend. Leonard Nimoy, the only cast member to appear in all 79 episodes, is Capt. Kirkâs polar opposite, possessing a cool demeanor alongside his use of logic and reasoning over quick, rash decision making. Deforest Kelleyâs Dr. McCoy is the intermediary between the two, often providing a voice of reason during times of conflict on the bridge. Scotty, as portrayed by James Doohan, is the series go-to repair officer, capable of getting the Enterprise out of any kind of difficult situation with his quick-thinking and on-the-spot fix-it jobs. The series other two leads, Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura and George Takei as Sulu, are both excellent in their respective roles, but Iâve often felt their presence was intended solely to round out the cast with a but more culture. Regardless, every single cast member is perfectly cast and I couldnât imagine the show without any one of them.

Video

âStar Trek: The Original Seriesâ Season 1 has previously been released on DVD and HD DVD, the latter as a combo disc containing both standard and high-definition versions of the episodes. This Blu-ray set contains only the high-definition version of the show, presented in its broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 using the VC-1 codec, and viewers are given an option of watching either the original broadcast episodes or the newly-enhanced versions with computer-generated effects. Switching between the two is as simple as using the âangleâ feature on your playerâs remote as these discs are seamlessly branched.

Iâm somewhat of a purist, so I prefer to watch the original broadcast versions, but I do have to commend the work put into the enhanced versions. Many of the changes are extremely subtle, but I feel that, although the CGI enhancements are well-rendered, they do feel slightly out of place in comparison to the non-enhanced portions of the show. Examples include: the opening shots of the Enterprise flying across the screen now feature a smoother, more modern looking ship, planets have been rendered to look more realistic, cities previously presented as matte paintings now look fuller and have some depth, etc. As I said, many of these new additions are relatively minor and many fans will likely appreciate the efforts made here to bring the show a little closer to current standards, but I prefer my shows, films and any other form of media to be left as is, aside from the requisite spit-and-polish needed to clean them up. There is a noticeable quality shift between the newly-enhanced shots and the older footage but, since both versions are seamlessly branched, you wonât lose out on any level of detail regardless of the version youâre watching.

Iâm pleased to say that regardless of which version you choose to watch, âStar Trekâ has never looked better. The show was shot on 35mm film so there was a great opportunity to restore the image, and present it in full 1080p 24/fps, with more detail than weâve ever seen before. Simply put, this blows away the previous DVD editions that were released back in 2004. Colors are vivid, bright and pop off the screen with amazing clarity. Black levels are deep and murky, while whites look cool and natural. Skin tones are more natural than ever, providing an astounding level of detail (make-up, prosthetics and all) on each actorâs face. Fine grain detail has also been preserved, so donât worry about excessive DNR being applied here. As soon as I began watching the first episode, it felt like I was watching a show that was made in the last 5-10 years, not one that is over 40 years old! This is even more amazing when you consider the fact that television sets in the 60âs werenât even capable of displaying the image with the level of detail as it was shot in-camera, meaning weâre seeing the absolute best possible presentation imaginable.

Audio

As with the video, the audio for âStar Trekâ has been given a complete overhaul. The main track is a superb English DTS HD Master Audio 7.1 surround sound mixed at 48kHz/24-bit which sounds incredible. Even though some minor hisses were detected, this track is clear and crisp. Surrounds are put to great use, often filling out the track with ambient sounds such as doors opening or people talking. The immersive experience, combined with the restored video, makes watching this series a whole new experience even for the most seasoned Trekker. Also included, for audio purists, are the original English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track and the French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono dub tracks.
Subtitles are offered in English for the hearing impaired, French, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish.

Extras

This new Blu-ray edition retains some of the bonus features found on the previous DVD and HD DVD editions along with adding some new features to the set. Included here are some behind-the-scenes footage, featurettes, episode trailers, âStarfleet Accessâ pop-up guides for select episodes and some very worthwhile BD-Live content.

One quick note on âStarfleet Accessâ: this is an interactive feature which you can turn on very simply from the main menu, at which point the episode will play while video windows will pop-up featuring various members of the showâs cast and crew discussing details about the episode, usually alongside text pop-up which provide information on many of the shows props, crew, weapons, technology and numerous other factoids.

All of the supplements are spread across the 7-disc set, so here is a full breakdown of where each feature appears:

DISC ONE:

âSpacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Centuryâ is a featurette which runs for 20 minutes and 10 seconds. The team responsible for Trekâs restoration talk about how they cleaned up the image using the original film elements, re-recording Alexander Courageâs classic theme in surround sound and integrating newly-created computer-generated effects into the classic show.

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc oneâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

A bonus trailer for âStar Trekâ (2009) runs for 2 minutes and 8 seconds. It is available to watch in a multitude of languages, including: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese (subtitles only) and Spanish.

âStarfleet Accessâ interactive feature is available for the episode âWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeâ.

DISC TWO:

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc twoâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

There is an Easter egg that can be found by selecting the blank bulletin point next to the âCommunicationsâ option. There is rough footage of the newly-enhanced CGI effects set to some techno music, which runs for 3 minutes and 42 seconds.

DISC THREE:

âReflection on Spockâ is a featurette which runs for 12 minutes and 3 seconds. Leonard Nimoy talks about the enduring legacy of his iconic character, why he feels people can relate to Spock and muses about on-set anecdotes.

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc threeâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

âStarfleet Accessâ interactive feature is available for the episodes âThe Menagerie Part Iâ and âThe Menagerie Part IIâ.

DISC FOUR:

âLife Beyond Trek: William Shatnerâ is a featurette which runs for 10 minutes and 18 seconds. Shatner effusively gushes about his love forâ¦ horses? Yep, donât expect much Trek talk here. This guy has a genuine love for all things equine.

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc fourâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

âStarfleet Accessâ interactive feature is available for the episode âBalance of Terrorâ.

DISC FIVE:

âTo Boldly Goâ¦ Season Oneâ is a featurette which runs for 18 minutes and 52 seconds. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei and other members of the cast and crew reminisce about the showâs early beginnings, how their respective characters were developed and which episodes are their favorites.

âThe Birth of a Timeless Legacyâ is a featurette which runs for 24 minutes and 7 seconds. Similar to the previous featurette, this one expands much more on the birth of the show and its creator, Gene Roddenberry. A mix of archive and current (as of 2004) interviews fill out the piece with plenty of production notes.

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc fiveâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

Also, there is another Easter egg which can be found just as the last one was: by selecting âCommunicationsâ from the main menu and then pressing right. Running for 1 minute and 3 seconds, this is a very funny commercial for the newly re-mastered and re-mixed âStar Trekâ episodes.

DISC SIX:

âSci-fi Visionariesâ is a featurette which runs for 16 minutes and 30 seconds. This is a discussion about the incredible forethought of the showâs writers and producers, and the level of quality they demanded for each episodeâs script.

ââInteractive Enterprise Inspectionâ is a Discovery Channel-esque interactive feature that looks at the starship Enterprise. Viewers, assuming the POV of being inside a small aircraft, can virtually fly around the ship and gain insight into every imaginable facet of what makes up the Enterprise. There are many, many areas of information and the tour is very well done.

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc sixâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

âStarfleet Accessâ interactive feature is available for âSpace Seedâ.

DISC SEVEN:

âBilly Blackburnâs Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memoriesâ is a featurette which runs for 13 minutes and 23 seconds. Blackburn, a production assistant on the show, shares memories about the many characters he ended up playing during the seriesâ run, as well as showing some old videos he had taken of the cast and crew on-set. Some really great old footage is shown here.

âKiss âNâ Tell: Romance in the 23rd Centuryâ is a featurette which runs for 8 minutes and 24 seconds. Shatner sarcastically muses on his many interstellar trysts while playing Capt. Kirk.

Episode trailers are provided for each of disc sevenâs episodes, all of which run for 1 minute and 3 seconds each.

âEnhanced Visual Effects Creditsâ are just what they say they are, credits.

âStarfleet Accessâ interactive feature is available for âErrand of Mercyâ.

There is also a healthy amount of BD-Live content available for those users who have their profile 2.0 player connected to the internet. Iâve never been much of a fan of this feature than Blu-ray seems to tout so proudly. I feel that often times what is available isnât worth the hassle of the often-laborious loading process. That isnât the case here however, as there is a lot of worthwhile material presented here. The loading process is still very slow, but once you get in things move very quickly. Here is a breakdown of whatâs currently available:

âMore TV Series on DVDâ is just a short list of CBS Paramount shows that are on DVD.

Donât forget that new material is constantly being added to this site, and anytime you log in a prompt will alert you as to whether or not anything has been recently added.

There is more than enough bonus material here for even the most diehard fan, but I wish they had been able to record some audio commentaries, a feature which is sorely lacking here as it would have been great to listen to the living members from the cast and crew discuss some of the seasonâs key episodes. No matter, as what we do get is quite substantial.

Packaging

This collection is packaged in a deluxe 7-disc Blu-ray case housed in a tin wrap-a-round housing.

Overall

If the exhaustive review above hasnât convinced you by now, I donât know what else I could possibly say. This is the best possible presentation of this show in terms of picture quality, audio quality and supplemental material. Everything about this release is fantastic and, as it can usually be found for a reasonable price, I highly recommend anyone with interest do so.